Embodiments herein generally relate to moving and stacking operations, and more particularly to patterning openings in workpieces that are output on a transport belt of a production device, and using a vacuum operated picker to simultaneously pick up and move multiple workpieces to a stacking unit.
Advances in production machinery can provide flexible systems that can collect, compile and stack, cards, signage and packaging products of multiple sizes and shapes. For example, some media handling systems utilize vacuum cups to acquire and securely transport single cards/sheets from one point to another. When multiple items are stacked, the stack cannot be moved reliably by applying the vacuum cup only to the top sheet. More specifically, the vacuum cup will only remove the top piece from the stack and will not move the entire stack.
One way to move multiple items in sets is to clamp/secure the cards from the side and/or bottom. This presents several challenges including how to clamp cards of drastically different shapes with the same end effectors or tool. An additional challenge is gripping, transporting, and depositing a stack of workpieces into a stacking device, because gripping mechanisms used to move sets are complex and tend to interfere with the final stacking function.